


Hospital Blues

by spaceboiiii



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Angst, Crying, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hospitals, Illnesses, M/M, Surgery, Trans Character, Trans Kurapika, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-19 22:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4763558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceboiiii/pseuds/spaceboiiii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurapika is diagnosed with the same illness which killed Leorio's childhood best friend. Angsty fluff ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hospital Blues

**Author's Note:**

> Based upon an ask I sent to tumblr user hxhheadcanons. Sorry not sorry :^)

Leorio could feel his heart beating roughly against his sternum. Thump thump, thump thump. Nausea simmered in his stomach, around what felt like a rock the size of his fist.

_It’s not this big of a deal._

The medical student let out a shuddering sigh, tears prickling at the brim of his eyes. His fingernails dug into the bottoms of his scrubs, scraping at the skin of his thighs.

_It’s treatable. Curable._

His teeth ground together, forming a dam to hold back the sobs that had begun to rise in his throat. Under no circumstances would he let them escape, not in the middle of a shift.

_But still…_

“Paladiknight.” At the sound of his name, the young man raised his eyes, forcing back any evidence of his emotional reaction. He had to be professional in the face of his internship supervisor. “Go pick up these meds for 442, 449, and 453.” She handed him three sheets of paper--prescriptions--with some sort of scrawl on them that Leorio hoped the pharmacy would find legible. He took them, nodding curtly, and disappeared down the hallway of the hospital.

He moved with purpose, somewhere between a walk and a jog. When he was finished with this errand, Leorio would go visit them. Hold their hand. Stroke their hair. His throat began to tighten at the thought, so he coughed, and continued on his way to the pharmacy. It was all he could do to shake those thoughts from his head, replacing them instead with focus on his job.

 

“Hey, Kurapika. How’re you feeling?” Leorio knocked on the door, entering slowly when there was a hum of an acknowledgement. The blonde boy sat up in bed, a book in his hands, usually pale face absolutely white, with a sheen of sweat glinting on his forehead. Leorio pushed his hands into the pockets of his scrub top, smiling despite his pounding heart.

Kurapika finished his paragraph and slid a bookmark into the crease of the page, closing it as he looked up at his friend. “I’m doing well, thank you.” He gestured to the chair beside his hospital bed. “Can you sit for a few minutes?”

Leorio lowered himself into the seat, nodding. “If I can’t, I’m going to hide here anyway until someone finds me,” he joked, laughing. “How are you?”

“Just as well as when you asked me a few seconds ago.” The blonde quipped, a soft grin forming over his lips. “How are _you?_ ”

A small, tense exhale passed through the med student’s lips. “I’m fine, why?”

“You don’t seem fine.” Kurapika stared at him with those big brown eyes, through pupils that seemed to take in everything. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.” He wasn’t, and it was clear to anyone who knew the young man.

Kurapika tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing by mere millimeters. It was enough to break him.

Leorio clenched his teeth again, wells forming in his eyes. He bent over his legs, shoving his elbows into his knees as he ran his fingers through his short black hair. A muffled cry escaped, despite his best attempt to bite down on it and drag it back down his throat.

“Leorio…” The Kurta placed his hand on Leorio’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “Come here.” He shifted in bed, opening up a space for his friend.

He wouldn’t move. The blades of his shoulders shook with sobs.

“Leorio.”

The soft, sympathetic voice broke through the sound of his wracking sobs and blood rushing through his ears, and it was all he could do to shift onto the bed beside the blonde boy. Kurapika wrapped his arms around Leorio, nuzzling his nose into his shoulder. “I know, Leorio.”

He gasped for breath, hiccuping between more wails despite how he tried to muffle himself. “I don’t even know _why_ ,” he struggled to push out, voice barely comprehensible through the tears and mucus. “They can fix you!”

Kurapika hugged him tighter, pulling the large young man into his lap. “But there’s a certain trauma that comes with it. It’s the same reason I can’t stand spiders, Leorio.”

The snivelling med student nodded, shifting so he wasn’t so heavy on his friend’s lap, so he didn’t cut off circulation in the Kurta’s legs. He leaned into the soft, plush chest of his best friend, resigning himself to ride out his emotions. Everything would be okay, and logically he _knew_ that, but for some reason his fear and anxiety of losing another friend to the same curable disease was too much for him to handle.

The blonde boy hugged him and rubbed his back, letting him release all of this pent-up emotion. He pressed his nose into dark hair, breathing in the familiar scent of his friend and kissing his scalp reassuringly. “I’ll come out of this, Leorio.”

 _Leorio._ He loved hearing his own name in the musical, familiar, and in a way motherly tone of Kurapika’s voice. He’d never admit it; especially considering the spats the topic had induced early on in their relationship. When Kurapika pronounced his name _correctly_ , with the familiarity of one who needs not use honorifics, it began to feel almost like home.

He sniffed, taking a jagged, deep breath as he gradually calmed down. “I-I know,” he admitted, nodding with a cough. He brought his mouth to his shoulder, wiping away the tears that had gathered around his lips. “I just love you so much, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you like I lost him.”

It took them both a moment to register his words. Kurapika flushed, the first sign of color in his cheeks for several days. “I know, Leorio,” he whispered, kissing his forehead. “I love you, too.”

Leorio’s cheeks and the back of his neck burned, coughing again as he wiped his sleeve across his eyes. He muttered, “That’s so embarrassing,” under his breath and slipped off Kurapika’s lap. “You’re embarrassing,” he said, a little louder.

“I know.” Kurapika smiled warmly, dragging him into another hug. “I love you, too.”

The med student blinked his eyes wide, humming through a grumble as he hugged back, pushing his nose into the Kurta’s neck. “...Yeah.” He placed a small kiss at the meeting of the blonde’s neck and shoulder. “When’s your surgery?”

“Two-thirty this afternoon.”

“Who’s your doctor?”

“Koetsuji.”

“Good. He’s good.” Leorio nodded into Kurapika’s shoulder.

“You’re lucky this isn’t contagious,” the blonde murmured, grinning.

Leorio sniffed a laugh, smiling finally. “Yeah.” He pulled back, hands moving to Kurapika’s shoulders. “You’ll be just fine.”

“I will.” The Kurta nodded reassuringly.

The dark haired man pulled Kurapika close by the shoulders, kissing his lips gently, blushing deeply all the while. It was a quick peck of a kiss, but it was long enough to leave both of their lips tingling, wishing for more. Kurapika blinked, only partially surprised. Leorio scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. “Um, for luck. You know.”

“Yeah, for luck,” the blonde nodded, smiling wider.

“ _There_ you are,” a voice spoke up, exasperated, from the doorway. “Paladiknight, you have other patients to check up on, you know,” Leorio’s supervisor crossed her arms, eyeing the looks that were exchanged between the two young men. She could see his swollen, red eyes and damp scrubs from where he had wiped away tears. “Wrap it up. I need you on the floor.” She said, with a fraction of her usual sternness.

Leorio nodded, taking Kurapika’s hand and giving it a quick squeeze. “I’ll see you afterward, okay?”

“Of course,” Kurapika nodded, squeezing his larger hand back. “Go save some lives.” His lips turned upward in a smile, kissing his cheek one more time in farewell.

Leorio coughed and smiled, still flushed as he stood and left.

 


End file.
